1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microwave oven, and more particularly, to a microwave oven having a ventilator for ventilating indoor air.
2. Prior Art
A microwave oven is an appliance for cooking food by radiating microwaves onto a foodstuff accommodated in a cooking chamber, which is commonly used in a kitchen. Recently, a microwave oven serves both as a cooking appliance and as a ventilator for removing the gas generated by a gas range or a gas oven range, or the smell of a food. Such a microwave oven serving as a ventilator is generally installed over a cooking appliance such as a gas oven range, and therefore it is called an OTR (Over-the-Range).
FIG. 1 shows a kitchen in which a microwave oven serving as a ventilator is installed, and FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the microwave oven shown in FIG. 1. A gas oven range 20 is installed in the central part of a sink 10 in the kitchen. A cupboard 40 is mounted over the sink 10. An accommodation space is prepared in the central part of the cupboard 40, and the microwave oven 30 is accommodated in the accommodation space.
A suction grill 32 is installed on the upper front side of the microwave oven 30, and a suction port 31 is formed on the bottom side thereof. An exhaust port 36 is formed on the upper side of the microwave oven 30. As shown in FIG. 3, an air duct 38 is provided in the microwave oven 30. The air duct 38 is extended from the suction port 31 to the exhaust port 36. An accommodation part 37 is formed on the rear upper portion of the microwave oven 30, and a ventilator 35 is accommodated in the accommodation part 37.
The ventilator 35 is comprised of a driving motor 34 and a pair of crossflow fans 33 driven by the driving motor 34. An assembly member 39 is installed on the exhaust port 36. The assembly member 39 connects the microwave oven 30 to an exhaust pipe which is not shown in the figures.
As the ventilator 35 operates, the gas generated from the gas oven range 20 is drawn into the air duct 38 through the suction port 31 and the suction grill 32, and then is exhausted through the exhaust port 36. The exhausted gas is discharged out of the room through the exhaust pipe.
However, in such a conventional microwave oven 30, there is a problem that the size of the cooking chamber in the microwave oven 30 is reduced by the size of the accommodation part 37 for accommodating the ventilator 35. In particular, since the fan used in the ventilator 35 is a crossflow fan 33, the ventilator 35 should be disposed horizontally on the upper rear area of the microwave oven 30, and therefore, the size of the cooking chamber is inevitably reduced. If the capacity of the ventilator 35 is increased to enhance the efficiency of ventilation, the space of the cooking chamber has to be narrowed more.
Furthermore, since the ventilator 35 is far from the suction port 31 formed on the lower side of the microwave oven 30, the power of the crossflow fan 34 for drawing air through the suction port 31 is weak.